Beneath the Mask
by stardust217
Summary: Without the mask, he was her everything. With it, he was just a friend. Now that she knew that he was the same person, Marinette wasn't sure how to feel.


**Warning:** This story contains possibly triggering content such as mentions and descriptions of eating orders. Readers discretion is advised.

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

Green eyes stared as if she held the secrets of the Galaxy in her eyes. Any other day, Marinette would have swooned. But in light of the current situation, Adrien's fond look made her feel discomforted.

Chat Noir has become her brother. He'd tug her pigtails and she'd step on his cat tail. They saved Paris together, time and time again. It was fun, but the crime-fighting scenarios often left them with few moments to bond as people or get to know one another. The most Marinette could have told someone about her partner was that he was approximately her age, probably had a shaky relationship with his parents, and was an obnoxious (but caring) flirt.

Adrien, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. She thought she knew just about everything about him there was to know. He was the type of guy that kept the dying concept of chivalry alive. She'd drop her books, and he'd help her pick them all up, even if he was late to one of his lessons. She'd doubt her abilities and he'd swoop in to shower her in compliments until she believed she was as amazing as he seemed to.

Adrien was Marinette's sky! Her sun, her moon, her shooting stars.. She'd basically built a shrine dedicated to him in the corner of her room! How many girls in the world could say they knew the infamous Adrien Agreste well enough to say with absolutely certainty that his soul was as beautiful as his face?

Without the mask, he was her everything. With it, he was just a friend. Now that she knew that he was the same person, Marinette wasn't sure how to feel.

Adrien was pleasantly oblivious to her internal dilemma. He smiled at her with unadulterated affection. "I should have known." He finally said. "The pigtails, the charming smiles...it's so obvious."

Marinette forced a piercing chuckle up her throat. Tikki peered up at her with a small frown on her face. Marinette ignored her. "Yeah, well.." She ran her tongue over her lips. "You...you, uh, you were Chat Noir. This whole time."

The alleyway they'd shuffled into was dim, and a good refuge from the summer sun. Sometimes Adrien's green optics would catch the light and blind her soul - but the moment she started floundering for words, the peaceful expression on his face shattered.

Instead of staring at her through his eyelashes and blond fringe, he tilted his chin up to meet her gaze (he was sitting on the ground trying to catch his breath, but Marinette still had too much adrenaline in her system to feel even remotely tired). "You're disappointed," he observed.

"What? N-no! Not disappointed exactly, I'm just...surprised!" Marinette tried to imitate casualness. She leaned back against the brick wall and folded her arms over her chest, but even as she tilted her head and forced a soft smile in his direction, Adrien was flinching away from her.

"You know what?" Adrien staggered to his feet. He was holding his side and grimacing, but her Miraculous Ladybug should have healed any wounds he received during battle, right? "This was a mistake. I should get going."

"Adrien.." Marinette placed her hand on his shoulder. He gently brushed it off and stumbled out of their comfortable little corner. She merely watched as his silhouette became one with the crowds. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt a tear trickle down her cheek. How could she possibly mend the rift she felt growing between them - a rift that was, consequently, of her own design?

* * *

Adrien arrived home hours after the sun tucked itself into its bed of star shine and moonlight. His father glowered at him from over the banister and had Nathalie usher him into his room, but not before he confiscated Adrien's cellphone (commonplace before his "bed time", lest he stay up too late and be visibly human at any engagements he had the next day). He received the lecture of a lifetime and was told that his cellphone would be returned to him in two week's time.

Nathalie didn't spare him a single glance as she lead him into his room. Her eyes were glued to her tablet the entire time, typing furiously at the keyboard. Adrien didn't bother to feign a smile. In this household, he never needed to. He'd hang himself before anyone noticed him, and in that case he swore his father would use that opportunity to bring the media's eye to his newest line.

Trying to sleep did him little good. Every time he closed his eyes, he remembered how close he and Marinette had gotten the past few months. For approximately six months now, Gabriel Agreste would become impeccably ornery after Chat Noir and Ladybug thwarted an akuma. Adrien figured all the ruckus in the city was disrupting his time for design.

So instead of coming immediately home after battles, he'd sneak into the Dupain-Cheng Bakery instead. The little building with a charming facade and intricate designs of lilies on the walls, armed with the sweet aromas of pastries that lured him inside that first fateful day. Marinette eventually picked up on Adrien's pattern - after every akuma attack, he'd be over in a jiffy - and would wait by the counter for him.

When she eventually asked him why, he told her the partial truth - his father got cranky, if he was even home, because of all the commotion and Adrien would come to the bakery as a haven of sorts. Marinette smiled and said, "I'm glad you feel safe here Adrien. You're always welcome here if you need anything." She'd put her hands on his shoulders and tilted her head back to look him in the eyes, and Adrien felt himself melting into her touch.

He'd caught himself, of course. Ladybug was his one and only, right? After that he stopped frequenting the bakery as often, but only because the family dietician scolded him for developing such a horrid dietary lifestyle.

His father downloaded a GPS app on Adrien's phone and always had Gorilla come pick up if he even got within twenty feet of the bakery. His father would sooner sell his company than allow his son to become a plus size model - Gabriel's words, not Adrien's.

Marinette showered him in sweets at school, though, and said her parents missed him and the sunny atmosphere he brought to the place. He smiled for two days straight. Now his clothes were getting snug again (he'd grown too wide for his clothes two months back), even in the wake of all his crime-fighting curricular activities.

It all brought him thoughts back around to Marinette, his Lady. The only woman in the world that seemed to not want him because he was Adrien Agreste.

"Hey, who needs her anyway, right?" Plagg said around a cheek full of cheese. "Have some Camembert. It'll make you feel so much better!" The kwami waved the stinky cheese next to Adrien's nose. Affronted by the overwhelming stench, he shook his head and pushed it away.

"Uh, no thanks, Plagg. I don't really feel like eating right now." Adrien - still holding his side, where a searing pain appeared every time he moved too abruptly - shuffled towards his window and pressed his forehead against the cool glass. The city lights of Paris were his stars. He wished upon every car that zoomed by.

"You know, I haven't seen you eat much the past couple of days. Are you sure you don't want something?" For once, Plagg's concern seemed...sincere. He didn't even forcefully shove the Camembert into Adrien's face or hands.

When Adrien turned to face Plagg, he had the barest hint of a smile on his face. "I'm fine Plagg, thanks for asking. You probably just haven't noticed me eating because you're too busy stuffing your face with cheese. Now let's get to bed, shall we?"

For the rest of the night, Adrien watched the colors of the sky flash and fade. Every time he started to fall asleep, a shrill voice in the back of his mind would rouse him. "Poor fat cat. Didn't get the girl of his dreams. Maybe if you weren't so chubby, she'd have said nicer things."

* * *

Hello everyone! Doe here. I've been toying with several ideas for a fanfiction and decided to combine them into one, and this is what I came up with! I hope that you all enjoyed it, as this took me a couple days to write!

Until next time!


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